Thu Mar 08, 2018 12:51 pm
Great news! The Peterborough organ, renovated in 1980/1 by Harrison and Harrison to approach the character of the 1894 William Hill & Son organ, provides a very important counterpart, in a more classical style, to the Willis cathedral organs. The 1930 Norman and Beard work greatly extended the orchestral possibilities, making this organ an intriguing combination of classical and high-Romantic orchestral styles. H&H have done superb conservation work on the instrument. This set may therefore provide an excellent contrast to the Hereford and Salisbury sets, hopefully with the latest advances in acoustical perspective adjustability.
The Armley Schulze appears to be an excellent set, but it is a very unusual instrument. The Peterborough organ is much more in the mainline English cathedral tradition, and therefore potentially a much better instrument for interpreting the full range of 19th-21st-century English organ music.